St. Landry democrat., 1887-01-01
ON TRIAL.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Tall
mage, D. D.
The Great and Awful Day of Account
The Indictment and the Witnesses
The All-Powerfut Advocate and
for Whom He Pleads.

ior whom lie Pleads.
BROOKLYN, n. Y, Dec. 10" On Trial >
was the subject of DR.. Talmage's discourse
to-day. He took for his text the first epis
tie OF John, second chapter, and part OF the
first verse: We have an advocate with
the Father Jesus Christ the righteous u
The speaker said:
Standing in courtroom you say to your
self: SAT this bar crime has often been
arraigned; at this witness stand the oath
has often been taken; at this jurors bench
the verdict has often been rendered; at this
judges desk sentence has been pro-
nounced." But have to tell you to-day of
trial higher than any oyer and terminer,
or circuit, or supreme, or chancery-it is
the trial Of every Christian man for the
life Of hiss.soul. This trial is different from
any other in the fact that it is both civil
and criminal. The issues at stake are ire
mend0us, and l shall in my sermon show
you, first what are the grounds of COM
plant; then who are the witnesses in the
cause, and, lastly, who are the advocates.
When 4 trial is called on, the first thing
is to have the Indictment read. Stand up,
then, 0 Christian man, and hear the in
dictment Of the court of High Heaven
against thy soul. It is an indictment Of
ten counts, for thou hast directly or indt-
rectly broken all the ten commandments.
You know how it Numbered on Sinai, and
when GOD came down how the mountain
rocked. and the smoke assembled as from d
smOldering furnace, and the darkness
gathered thick, and the loud, deep trumpet
uttered the words: THE soul that sinneth,
it shall die!"
Are you guilty or not guilty9 Do not put
r; x-lo,, IL e. r
announce that ''all have sinned and come
short Of the glory of God. There is none
that doeth good: no. not one whatsoever
shall keep the whole law, yet offend in one
point, he is guilty Of all.'' Do not. there
fore, be too hasty in pronouncing yourself
not guilty.
This lawsuit before US also charges you
with the breaking of solemn contract.
Many time did your promise to be the
Lords You got down on your knees and
said: so Lord, am Thine now and forev-
err" Did you keep the promise9 Have
you stood up to the contract: [ go back
to your first communion. You remember
it as well as if it was yesterday. You
know how the vision of the cross rose be-
fore you. You remember how from the
head, and the hands, and the SIDE and the
feet, there came bleeding forth these two
words: "Rcmember men' You recall how
the cup OF communion trembled in your
hand when you first took it; and as in
sea shell you may hear, or think you hear
the roaring of the surf even
after the shell has been taken
from the beach, so You lifted the cup of
communion, and you heard in it the surging
of the great ocean of a Saviour's agony; and
you came forth from that communion serv-
ice with face shining as though you had
ben on thu Mount of TRANSFORMATION; and
the very air seemed trenulous with the
love of Jesus, and the woods, and the
leaves, aud the grass and the birds were
brighter and sweeter voiced than ever be-
fore, and you said down in the very depths
OF your soul: Lord, Thou knowest all
things; Thou knowest that love Thee"
Have you kept the bargain, Christian
mana Have You not sometimes faltered
when you ought to have been truce Have
you not been proud when you ought to
have been humble? Have you not played /!
the coward when you ought to have been |
the hero2 l charge it upon you and I |
charge it upon myself-We have broken the |
contract. /
Still further, this lawsuit claims damages |
at your hands. The greatest SANDER on the !
Christian religion is an inconsistent pro-
fessor. The Bible says religion is one thing;
we by our inconsistency say religion is
some other thing, and what is more de-
plorable about it is that people can see
faults in others while they can not see any
in themselves If you shall at any time
find some miserable old gossip, with imper-
fections from the crown of her head to the
sole of her foot, a perfect blotch of
sin herself, she will go tattling, tattling,
tattling all the years of her life,
about the inconsistencies of others, having
no idea she is inconsistent herself. God
save the world from the gossip-female and
malei / think the males are the worst Now
the chariot Of Christ's salvation goes on
through the world, but it is our inco INSIST
encies, my brethren, that lock up the
wheels, while all along the line there ought
10 have been cast nothing but palm branches
and the shout should have been lifted;
9 Hosanna to the Son of David!'
Now you have heard the indictment read.
Are you ready to plead guilty or not guilty?
Perhaps you are not ready yet to plead. ,
Then the trial will go on. The witnesses
will be called, and we shall have the mat
er decided In the name of God I now )
make proclamation: "Oyez! oyer! oyez!
Nhosoeyer hath any thing to offer in this !
rial, in which God is the plaintiff and the !
Christian soul the defendant let him now
tep forth and give testimony in this sol
mn trial"
The first wtnes that call upon the stand
n behalf Of the prosecution is the World
all critical and observant of Christian
You know that there are peo- ,
'le around you who perpetually banquet ,
IN the frailtieS of Gods children You
nay know, if you have lived in the coun- ,
ry, that crow cares for nothing so much
IS carrion. There are those who imagine Z
hat out OF the faults of Christians they
an make q bridge of boats across the Z
tream of death, and they are going to try I